Born on New Year's Day

Back in Los Angeles

2011-12-30T11:26:00.000-08:00

I'm back for New Year's - it's going to be small this year. No party, just a nice dinner with friends and Dean. Now, one of the friends just called to say his pop's in the hospital, so it might just be Jan, Dean and me. We'll see. I've done a lot this year, I want to keep the end kind of on the small side. Christmas was fine, and so was Mom's birthday. My two favorite pictures are attached. The lighthouse one was taken on Christmas Day on the shores of Lake Michigan in Kenosha. The balloon one was taken at Mom's party as the festivities were winding down. Happy New Year everyone!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

2011-12-22T10:20:00.000-08:00

We are off to Chicago-Wisconsin for what might be the shortest holiday trip ever. Dec 24-28. Mom turns 85 on December 27 - we have Xmas Eve, Xmas Day and friends to pack in. We'll do it, somehow. Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Good Lord, this is going to be quicker than I thought!

2011-12-15T14:37:00.000-08:00

Gahhhhhh! Messed up on my ticket - we come back a day earlier than I thought. This is a bummer on so many levels. Nothing can be done, though. We'll have to make the best of things. It'll be a blur of a trip (see pic - get it?). But at least we'll be there for Xmas and Mom's birthday. We can sleep, I suppose, later.

2011-12-05T06:46:00.000-08:00

It's Christmastime - and for some reason, this year, I have the spirit a bit. I put up a tree. Something about this new place seems to support a tree. My neighbor, who has two kids, tricked out our front lawn with reindeer, sleigh, icicle lights, the works. Too funny! I have no idea why Christmas has hit me so much - I only had one show this season - that usually gets me into the spirit. But I am just in a what-the-hell kind of mood about it. We head to Chi-town on the 24th and celebrate Mom's 85th on the 27th. Incredible! More to come, promise!

Settled In - so Mom's coming!

2011-09-12T13:30:00.000-07:00

I'm finally settled in. Well...mostly. There *are* some straggly issues, but they won't be resolved before Mom's visit come Saturday. Should be interesting to see what she thinks of the place. Dean's been working like a madman to help me finish this. The remaining projects are just ones that are quite a bit of work and I just don't have the heart to nag him, after all he's done. I think Mom will like it. It's defintely more luxe than my old place. We'll see!

Sadness

2011-08-04T10:05:00.001-07:00

I feel a little...ashamed right now. Last night, Dean and I had kind of a tough night. But, this morning I woke up to news that a friend in Chicago (an old acting buddy) just lost one of his *kids* to a horrible train accident in Naperville. Now *that* little nugget will put things into perspective for me. I feel like I should have been more grownup about the stuff that went down last night, fully knowing that true sorrow does exist in the world and in fact can be right around the corner. But what's done is done and now I can only wonder how my dear friend, who always had light and love in his eyes and heart will now proceed with what's left of his life. His wife and remaining son and all of their friends are indeed the beacons of hope, but how can one do this? The kid was only 17. Why was he walking at a train station? How did he manage to be on the tracks when he was hit? I can't stand that stuff like this still happens. But it does. I moved into my place two months ago today and I've been a ball of stress and nerves the whole time - but why? This was not true sorrow, this was sheer anxiety and imaginings. Lesson learned - at least for today, hopefully for longer.

As Promised

2011-07-19T10:23:00.001-07:00

A picture of my New York kitchen. The fridge is to the right, out of frame. But that was it. For five people, 15 nights! Very tough. Tim Gunn would have been proud - I made it work!

I'm back.

2011-07-18T11:53:00.000-07:00

So, New York: it got easier. After a grueling week of repairmen in and out of the place, things finally settled down. I was still pretty clenched though. I called my friend, who was paying for the whole thing and whose daughter was one of the quads: HOW DO YOU DO THIS? I shouted. She laughed. Now you know what it's like to be a Mom. That clenched feeling? Starts the day you come home from the hospital. You do get used to it, though.

Oy! Well, the second week, I really did end up having some fun. I saw probably one of the best plays I've ever seen, The Book of Mormon. A must-see for anyone.

Now I'm back in LA, and the best thing is: my new place finally feels like home. Don't get me wrong, gentle reader(s - I'm optimistic), I'm nowhere near done. But the boxes are unpacked and after 15 solid days in a small NYC apartment with 4 kids, I felt like I walked through my door into an airport waiting lounge - it felt huge! And it felt good.

It's Tougher Now

2011-06-29T18:24:00.000-07:00

Tonight, for the first night since we've been here, I sense a chasm. They are all in one bedroom with the door closed, skyping someone. Who? Eh, it doesn't matter. Me? I've got my own worries. Two blisters that are just killing me. Thank God a friend recommended moleskin. How did I get to be this age and not know what moleskin is? Jeez.

So....after that first grocery store trip, I realized this: The fridge is not working. The FRIDGE is NOT WORKING. I have 400 dollars worth of food in there. Not only that, one of the kids came home the first night and broke the front door lock. How? How did she do this? Fridge guy came, eventually. Back door was broken, that guy came. Bathroom had issues, another guy came. Locksmith came. Then, management company sent THEIR locksmith over, cause it had to be their guy, not the guy listed on the front door. Wish I would have known this before I walked all the way to the East Village Hardware store to get extra keys made for the kids.

So, now, the fridge fixed. The back door fixed. The bathroom fixed. The front door lock - NOT FIXED. You can still just open it right up from the hallway. The lock guy promised to come out. For the first time, a NYC repair guy let me down. Ah, feels like home.

My dinners are being met with...well, polite reviews, not terribly glowing. But I'm doing my best. It's so small this kitchen. It's literally crazy how small it is. I promise to post a picture.

I'm dreading the fourth weekend. I have them all day and night for three days. How will I do this? I'm sort of counting the days already! More grocery shopping today. Endless work, but I knew that going in. My feet are killing me! These repairs are killing me! I just wanted it to be a little easy, not HARDER than my life is in LA, if possible. Yet, unbelievably it is.

There are bright spots - a friend took me to lunch in Chinatown today. I almost wept with gratitude. It was lovely to have someone pick me up, drive me somewhere and treat me to lunch. The little things.

Anyway, I know it'll settle down. The apartment stuff is really working my nerves. Very noisy hallway, lots of comings and goings. What do the upstairs neighbors do all day and night? Sounds like - moving furniture in stiletto heels. Just so bizarre.

I'm still glad I did it. It'll make me kiss the ground I walk on in LA!

Quads

2011-06-26T20:16:00.000-07:00

I just gave birth to quads. That's what this feels like. Did I mention that in my old place in Los Angeles, I had what was known as the smallest kitchen in America? Yeah well this one here on the Lower East Side is half that size. HALF! FML, as the saying goes (f**k my life) and it applies here fosho! Went to two grocery stores, a hardware store and two dance stores in Times Square today. Then came home and 1. Baked cookies. 2. Made dinner. 3. Cleaned up dinner. 4. Did laundry. 5. Put everything away. 6. Pretended to fall asleep so the kids would go to bed. 7. Ate earlier cookies like a furtive NYC rat in the dark. 8. Sent an email to the parents asking for more food money. NYC= the city that eats your money!

But you know what? As stressful and financial this whole thing is, I'm happy. Even in the difficult moments, I'm thinking, hey at least you are out of LA and the hell that is unpacking and in a kickass city. The girls here! The guys! The heck with LA, the beautiful people are right outside on my stoop!

Ah, N'Yawk. My only regret is not living here sooner. Feels a little late now. LA has made me soft. The kids already know the subway system. I find myself wishing for a car and better shoes. It's really going to be a lot of work, this, but that's okay. I'm already broke from the move, so what's another coupla…hundred? Bazillion more like it. Off to bed for reals this time!

(pix to come. iphone sez no from phone posting, which this is)

New York Citayyyyy

2011-06-24T11:19:00.000-07:00

Holy mother o' Gawd almights, am I really doing this? My boxes are not all unpacked. I have the wrong shelf paper down. There are a ton of things to do in the place. I still don't have a dryer. The ink is barely dry on the lease. Yet incredibly, I'm off to New York City for two weeks to be a chaperone to kids at American Ballet Theatre - one of the kids is the daughter of a dear pal. So off I go. Wish me luck. I'll try and post more while there about what it's like to go from having ZERO children to having suddenly FOUR, one of whom is 22 and technically I'm Not Chaperoning Her, so she can come and go as she pleases. As Lorrie Moore would say, no longer one unworried scrap of happiness. Anyway, we are hitting the ground running as they say, or toe-shoe-ing. As soon as we land tomorrow, the kids want to try and get half price student rush tickets at ABT (where they will be dancing) to see some famous ballerina's last performance of Cinderella. Don't mind me kids, I'll be sleeping during that performance, if I can even get in. Just found out at the parents meeting that one of the children (a boy) is DATING another of the children (a girl). Good Lord. Now I have to play SISTER too, it seems. Keep yer hands to yerself! Both kids, in fact, ALL the kids are lovely. They are ballet driven. Very disciplined. Wish me luck! Signed, Mama Rose, Alice in the Brady Bunch and Barbara Hershey's character in the Black Swan. PS Here's a pic of my patio. Look how the lights from inside reflect on the tree. We hung lanterns, patio lights, chandeliers. It's gonna be amazing!

I'm all in

2011-06-06T14:17:00.001-07:00

....moving sucks. More to come. But I'm out of the old place forever. New place, here I come!

I'm not ready

2011-06-03T11:56:00.000-07:00

I'm not ready, but tomorrow's the day. I guess I'll get done what I can get done tonight. Last post while living in old digs. It's tough, man! I watered my garden today for the last time and realized that every single plant there, with three exceptions, was planted by me. I knew the origin of everything. My lemon tree has a huge crop! I harvested it. Might as well get some use out of it. My two angel trumpet trees, beautiful! Full bloom! One for Mom and one for Dad. The plant I got from my office 9 years ago. Two plants Dean brought home free from estate sales. Some stuff I planted that used to be houseplants in Chicago. I said goodbye to all of them. Drummer came by last night. He's very unhappy with the turn of events. My neighbor said I could babysit him. That's going to be nice! Tomorrow, we get the truck and start in. Friends are helping. I'm so lucky, I know. It could be so so much worse. When I think of 2000. Buried my Dad, lost my job (had a year's notice, and we got a severance, but still), packed half my stuff and put it into Chicago storage, packed the other half into a U-Haul and off to LA I went. How on earth?? How did I do THAT? I look back and wonder. Of course...that was 10 years ago. How things change in a decade! Don't know if I'd have that in me now. Not only that, I moved out here with no car, no job and no apartment! Not for lack of trying. I'd come out on a recon a few weeks earlier - nothing. I had to store my stuff out here as well while I crashed at a friend's house. Started job/house hunting. The job was easy - but my little house, the one I'm about to leave, was much longer. 6 weeks! In Chicago, you can find an apartment in a weekend. Even this new place-3 months! But back then, all I was doing was apartment hunting. Temping a little, then I found that first job and apartment basically in the same week. Just amazing. It was fall. What will fall be like this year? The sound of the pep rallys at Venice High, the one sound I always associate with moving into my house, will now be a thing of the past. But this was before - before Dean, before my current job, before Late Nite Catechism. It was just Benny and me - now Ben's long gone. Well, life changes. That's about the only thing I know. It'll be a wrench to leave tomorrow but the new place is becoming more and more welcoming. Dean has been working like a dog to make it look beautiful for me. I'm lucky. When things are more settled, I'll post again with pictures. But for now, one last look at Dad's Angel Trumpet tree. Farewell, lovely Tivoli Ave - it's been a great run!

Moving right along

2011-05-31T16:27:00.000-07:00

We've gotten a lot done. I wake up feeling like I've been hit with a baseball bat. Had a little scare yesterday, but will elaborate at a later date. I'm working too hard and catastrophizing all over the place: no news there. Thank God for my boyfriend. I've taxed his patience to the limit. Ditto everyone else, really. Big stuff getting moved on Saturday. Hope I'm not at the old place too much longer after that. Saw a great movie last night (boyfriend insisted!) Bridesmaids. Really interesting character played by the lead actress. Loved it. Onward. Must keep packing and moving and moving and moving and moving. Soon it will be over.

So It Begins...

2011-05-24T12:59:00.001-07:00

We've already started bringing stuff down to the new place. How on earth will I pack up 10 years and move? Thank God for Dean! I loved the light in the new place yesterday. What will life bring me there?

An Ode to my Little House

2011-05-17T13:15:00.001-07:00

So....the big change is....drumroll...I'm moving. Meh, you say. No biggie. People move all the time. Yes, it's true. But this place....ah, my little place. How can I describe it? In a love letter, of course!

Dear House - I love you. I loved you the first minute I saw you. I cried, in fact. I told my landlord, "I think my late father brought me to this place" as I sat in his kitchen and prepared to move in. (He later told my Mom he saw the ghost of my father sitting next to me).

That said, there were problems. But I tried to overcome them one at a time. There were constant challenges, but it always felt like home. The rent was cheap, too, for Los Angeles. It was my first real little stand alone house, a rental, but I made you my own. My little yard. My private-ness, stuck way in the back. I was in everyone's backyard, it seemed. All four corners of the world met in my back yard. The little tree that hangs over my patio - okay, it dripped sticky goo onto every single thing underneath it, but what wonderful shelter from the blazing SoCal sun! (Dear New Place: I already know you are going to be hot and difficult to decorate, FYI. You are charming but I see through you!)

My lovely kitchen that Marc painted and Maripat tiled with those fab Mexican tiles. The different colored walls. The way the windows faced northwest, so I got beautiful light and shadow without the blaze of the sun (I see you, new place, waving to me, direct west sun and all and that pain in the butt sliding glass door that I've already derailed, after only one opening. I never derailed my current sliding glass door once in 10 years). I felt moments of pure happiness just sitting in my living room, looking out.

And...it's not only the only place I've ever lived while in Los Angeles (all that life happened there! 10 years' worth! So many people, some long gone, have seen that place and laughed with me there! I learned FOUR shows here!), it's the longest place I've ever lived in, period. That's right. Since birth, the longest I've ever lived in any one place is right here, where I'm about to leave.

But...it's time to leave. We both know it. I won't miss not having either a dishwasher or a bathtub (Hi new place! But I still can't fit any of my kitchen appliances on those counters! I already know this!). But I will miss knowing that some of my father's and late dog's ashes are right outside at the base of the angel trumpet tree I planted there 10 years ago. (New place - I'm bringing some angel trumpet tree cuttings to my new garden - please be kind and let them take root).

I guess that's the thing I'll leave with - please be kind and take root. That's what I wish for in my new home. Thank God, I have Dean to help me this time. It won't be as hard, physically. Emotionally, well, that's another story for another day. Wish me luck! Oh and don't get me started on having to say goodbye to Drummer, my neighbor's cat. We just won't go there.

Loving the friends and parents of friends.

2011-05-10T10:00:00.000-07:00

This picture is also from the Grand Canyon - we stayed in Williams, Arizona at an old brothel. This was hanging out our window when we came into the room. Very funny, and clever. Williams is a great little town, and only about an hour from the Grand Canyon (the reviews for Grand Canyon hotels were so bad I looked nearby).

I'm still waiting to hear about my big change.

A friend's Mom died today. It's so sad, because her Dad just died as well. Both her Mom and her Dad were lovely people, and very kind to me when I was in high school and really struggling to find my way. I wish I could tell the young people I know to not only love their friends but love the parents of their friends as well. After all, we are, all of us, not going to be around forever. Facebook is good for that kind of thing, but I don't want to come off too preachy.

More to come from me!

Grand Canyon

2011-05-03T13:18:00.001-07:00

Boy, this year has been tough. And I can't really divulge why yet - I'm in a holding pattern for a big change and can't really get too much into it. Los Angeles is one of those places that is really a petrie dish for this type of thing - unresolved issues, dangling participles, holding patterns, wait and see, try to relax. All the platitudes I just don't do well with. Hey, maybe I'm in the *wrong city* which of course I think about constantly. But what does exist out here is the air of possibilities. It really is possible to change your life at any age out here and no one blinks an eye. Not that you can't change your life elsewhere, but it seems that elsewhere, that's not really a goal. Here, it's almost a daily goal. Anyway, when the going gets tough (and believe me, it has been), I reflect on the Grand Canyon, which we saw for the first time about two months ago. It's hard to describe it, really. It really does look fake. But in a good way. Like Los Angeles! Here's my favorite photo of the trip.

Heading out!

2011-03-25T10:34:00.000-07:00

Dean and I are going to the Grand Canyon next week and then Jan and my aunt and I are going to Chicago. Can't wait! I'll post pix of the canyon ASAP. Neither of us have ever been and it's exciting! Kathy you are right, I've been woefully lax. More life issues have cropped up (which I can't share here) but all will resolve! More to come from me!

First!

2011-01-30T11:24:00.000-08:00

Well, it's my first post of 2011 and there's not even a picture. Truth be told, so far, 2011 has kind of kicked my ass. Health issues are just now starting to regulate. Life issues, eh, those take a little longer. I miss blogging and often wonder if I could make a living at it. But for now, I'll check in when the mood strikes me.

Remember, the old commercial was right: when you've got your health, you've got everything.

Happy New Year Everyone!

2010-12-30T10:55:00.000-08:00

See you in 2011. Here's a pic from my party in Chicago last year. This year, the party's in Los Angeles. Friends will be close by and that's a good thing when one year is ending and another is beginning. Here's to more consistent posting in 2011! xo Kath

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-22T12:31:00.000-08:00

Mom was here - then she left, just before the rain. She saw seven shows in four days! It was pretty intense, but great. I took this pic on one of our sojourns. Hope you and yours have a Merry One.

Happy Holidays, yo!

2010-12-03T09:06:00.000-08:00

Yes, this is what passes for yard decorating near my house. Gah, this time of year, I miss Chicago a lot. Not that I'm that into Christmas, but I like OBSERVING others' Christmases. I like looking at lights, eating festive fare, listening to music. I have a lot of shows this year, both choral and theatrical, and I prefer working through the holidays, but it's nice to see what other folks do. This made me laugh, though.

It's been really cold here - cold for LA - I have zero tolerance. Mom comes next week. Hope it warms up for her!

Lantern!

2010-10-21T13:27:00.000-07:00

Look at this incredible lantern Dean found at a sale. 45 bucks. He's going to wire it so it lights up. But even with the sunlight streaming through it, it's spectacular! Can't wait to see it at night when it's done. My patio is looking so great these days!

Striving for Serenity

2010-10-18T13:25:00.000-07:00

Hey, my blogiversary is almost here! Remember last year around this time (it was actually November) I posted about traveling to NorCal to do a show? I'm going back to the same place this year. Rain is in the forecast. I get nervous driving in the rain. Must strive for serenity - it's a long journey. Look at these lovely serene pictures from a benefit Dean and I went to recently. Talk about peaceful. More to come! Oh and I have a killer Walnut Cookie recipe to share with you too - no butter! But that's for next time.

I'm still here

2010-10-08T13:08:00.000-07:00

It's been quiet lately. Ree Drummond of Pioneer Woman Blog fame says, water your blog every day. Even for a minute. She might be on to something, but I have a lot on my plate every day and sometimes, blogging falls by the wayside. That said, I'll try and keep up more this fall.

Check out the Eames/Saarinen designed fireplace. Dean and I went to a benefit. I swear, if this were in my house, I would always be in front of it. It was so beautiful, I wanted to cry.

Also, for a new recipe, google coffee and donuts cake. Looks amazing - but too much work for me!

Happy Fall!

Pinwheels

2010-08-17T11:20:00.000-07:00

Pinwheels and Patterns seem to be everywhere. Two pictures for you. One from a hike Dean and I took in the Santa Monica Mountains. The other, from Hearst Castle. If you've not been there, I highly recommend it. Two small pinwheel-type recipes for you today. I've only made the savory version - but Dean liked it! Yes, my meat and potatoes guy loved the seaweed! Go figure. I don't use puff pastry often enough. These recipes come from the great food blogger Dorie Greenspan, with a few tiny variations. She also (today!) has a recipe on her blog for Puff Pastry Pizza. Woo, that'll be next.

Cinnamon Pinwheels OR
Seaweed Pinwheels

1 cup sugar
1/4 to 1/2 tsp cinnamon (to taste)
1 sheet frozen puff pastry (about 8 1/2 oz.), thawed but still cold

1. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together; dust work surface with half of it. Don’t unfold the puff pastry. Put it on the sugar and dust the top. Roll the dough, keeping sugar on both sides, into a 13-x-15-inch rectangle.

2. Brush off excess sugar and, starting from a short side, roll up the dough jelly-roll fashion. Cut 1/2-inch-thick slices and place them 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

3. Bake at 350°F for 20 to 25 minutes, or until baked through to the center. Lift them off the sheet immediately and turn them over onto a clean sheet of parchment. Cool before serving.

For the Savory Seaweed Version:

The dough was already rolled out, so all I did was brush the top of the dough with a little melted butter, sprinkle the surface with salt, and then dust it with seaweed flakes. Trader Joe’s sells bags of dried seaweed now, chich practically crumble when you touch them. Instead of slicing them into 1/2-inch rounds, as I'd done with the sweet pinwheels, I cut these very thin - the rounds were between 1/6- and 1/4-inch thick. Bake these longer, in a 375-degree F oven for about 17 minutes. No need to flip these, just put them on a rack to cool.

I'm back today!

2010-08-16T12:30:00.001-07:00

The nice thing about a blog you don't depend on for income is that you can leave it for awhile. I left. Went to San Fran. Did the wedding. Got lost in the Presidio! Suddenly, it's late August. There've been a few deaths. A lot of visitors, some trips. I've been looking at food blogs trying to figure out how to cook more and eat out less. Even with cooking, food is a challenge. I have a recipe for you though that is so easy and yields so much good stuff, it almost boggles the mind. This comes from two sources, but it uses an ingredient I was not that familiar with: instant yeast. For some reason, this dough, which is a non-knead dough, just sits there in the fridge, comfy, for weeks. Whatever you make with it, in whatever form, usually turns out fantastic. In these economically tough times, it helps to have a go-to starch recipe if, like me, you are the one responsible for all of the cooking in your household. Enjoy! And, I will try to be more present here. I've missed you, dear Reader(s), and I've missed blogging too. Oh and I've enclosed a picture of the view from our hotel room in Cambria. We were there for a few days to celebrate Dean's 'significant' birthday. To say the least, it was wonderful. But it is part of the reason why I'm cooking at home so much! :)

Master Bread Dough Recipe

Use your largest bowl. Wrap with saran, but make sure some air gets in the corners, or the whole thing will explode!

3 cups water
1 and 1/2 TBS of salt
1 and 1/2 TBS of instant (must be instant) yeast
6 cups flour

Mix first three - whisk till blended. Add flour all at once. Stir will you have what looks like a big goopy mess. Cover loosely with saran. Let sit three hours.

It will rise - punch it down and stick in fridge. Use as needed - it's good for about 2 weeks.

Three things I make with this dough:

Naan:

Take a golf ball sized piece and roll it in some flour. Flatten out with your hands. You can use a rolling pin, but this is a sticky dough, so be sure and flour up.

You can use butter, ghee or olive oil. I've been using olive oil lately. Get a pan on the stove hot and add whatever grease you are using. (I've even switched to using a non-stick pan instead of the old reliable Le Creuset). When grease is hot, plop the flattened dough piece in. Don't splash yourself. Immediately cover. After about 3 minutes, turn over with a pair of tongs. Cover again. Cook for about 3 more minutes.

Remove to plate and sprinkle with salt (I also sprinkle with dried garlic too)

Repeat. You may have to re-grease the pan as the cooking process goes along.

I'm still tweaking my methods with this naan recipe. But here's another one I've had much more consistent results with.

Garlic Bread Balls

Get out a large lasagna pan, either glass or otherwise (again, I use a Le Creuset).
Preheat oven to 450. Make sure it's super hot.

The original recipe calls for a melted cup of butter to start, but again, I switched to olive oil and was very happy with the results. Pour about 1.5 cups of olive oil in a bowl. Add 1 tsp. of italian seasoning, 1 tsp. parsley, 1 tsp. dried garlic, 1 tsp. dried onion, 1/2 tsp. of coarse black pepper and 1/2 tsp. of kosher salt. Mix together.

Take your master bread dough and break off larger pieces this time. You can sprinkle flour right on the dough in the bowl to make it easier. Roll a piece of dough in your hands about the size of a plum, maybe a bit smaller. Dunk in oil mixture and put in pan. Repeat till you have 5 rows of three. Sprinkle the top with more italian seasoning. Bake for 25 minutes. Break the bread pieces apart if you have to and cool on a rack. Fantastic!

Boule Bread

Finally, just good old basic bread. You can do all sorts of stuff here too. Break off a large chunk, maybe the size of a small pumpkin. Keep it plain, or have fun. Black pepper, white pepper, red pepper, dried jalapenos, dried garlic, onions, sesame seeds, poppy. You can do whatever you like. The original recipe says to score it, but I find the dough is too wet to even do that.

The trick here is in the execution. Again, oven at 450. Put a pizza pan in the oven when you turn it on. Also put a rimmed cookie sheet in the rack just below it. Wait till oven is super hot. Then, caarrrreeefullyyyy take your dough pumpkin and plop it on the pizza pan. It will ssssizzle. Then, even more carefully, add a cup of cold water to the cookie sheet. It will steam up, so be very careful here. Shut the oven door so the steam says in. Bake 40 minutes. Crust should be nice and brown and bread should be nice and chewy! Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!

San Francisco

2010-04-30T14:44:00.000-07:00

...here I come. My pal is getting married to a wonderful girl. I could not be happier. I fly out tomorrow. Back Sunday. Lots going on here, that's why I'm not driving. I hate flying, as you know. Here are some shots from my patio. My angel trumpet tree is in full bloom! Yes, that's Mary you see in the lower right on the first photo. I need all the flying help I can get, and she is one of the patron saints of air travelers. I'll have San Fran pix hopefully next week and maybe a final New Year's roundup and more recipes! That is, if the pilots know what they're doing....:)

Industrial Photos, Easter Past, Six Hour Recipe

2010-04-28T15:10:00.001-07:00

Google Docs recipe upload is trudging ahead. It's nice to revisit old recipes and look through them and think, will I ever make this? Really? In the world's smallest kitchen? It's been fun to see what makes the grade. Here's an old one I have made.

Wow - did I really make the recipe I'm going to share with you? Well, yes. It's good, but six hours? Eh, those old European recipes take forever, or forevs as the kids like to say now. Easter is long gone, but this sweet cake-bread (?) is pretty good. Great for breakfast and/or french toast, or even trifle, if you are really feeling ambitious.

Meanwhile, remember yesterday I told you I posted some industrial pics on Facebook cause I had a show last weekend and my dressing room was a locker room? Here are a few of them, with some random nun stuck in there for snickers. Yes, I can hear you snickering in cyberspace. Hey, try making this bread. Soon, I'll hear NO snickering but a lot of cursing! Meh - whatevs. Rhymes with forevs....:)

Easter Bread Cake from Croatia

Takes nearly 6 hours!

1 pk. active dry yeast
1 cup + 1 tbs. sugar
1/4 cup warm water
5 large eggs, separated
1 cup milk
6 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
confect. sugar for dusting

Dissolve yeast and 1 tbs. sugar in warm water. Let stand till foamy, five minutes

Beat egg whites in stand mixer till soft peaks. Add yeast mix, milk and 2 cups flour. Mix. Leave in bowl, cover, let sit one hour

Whisk egg yolks with 1/2 cup sugar. Melt butter with remaining 1/2 cup sugar. Cool, then mix with egg yolks, vanilla and salt.

Add butter/egg mix to yeast. Mix well. Add 4 1/2 cups flour and mix with dough hook. Knead 2 to 3 minutes. Cover and let rise, 1 1/2 hours.

Stir down, cover, let rise again, 1 hour.

Grease a 10 inch tube pan. Put dough in pan and let rise again, 1 hour!

Heat oven to 325. Bake for 1 hour. Cool in pan for 10 minutes and then a rack. Dust with brown sugar.

Tabletop Variations

2010-04-26T10:30:00.000-07:00

I've been taking some industrial type photos lately. Just put up a whole album on Facebook of a locker room which was my dressing room for a show over the weekend. Sometimes I get fixated on certain things. This first picture is a tabletop from a local Indian restaurant. The three blue ones are right on my very own patio. My pal made the table and gave it to me when it proved too big for his new house. I just love it.

In case you ever feel the need to work your butt off

2010-04-23T13:32:00.000-07:00

...in the kitchen that is, I have a great recipe today. Speaking of hauling butt, you'll never guess what I'm doing: putting ALL my recipes onto Google Docs. This way, WHEN I get an iPad, I'll just do that kitchen thing - stick the iPad on the wall and access my recipes that way. My recipe binder is huge. This is kind of a good opportunity to go through each one and be realistic about the ones I will or won't make. With this one, I would have given it a pass. But that would have been a big mistake. I actually ate this at a friend's house once and begged her for the recipe. I've made it twice. I'm not going to sugarcoat it: it's a pain in the ass. But the payoff! My God, it's so good you just want to die. But you've earned every bite, believe me. Don't let it drive you up a tree (get it? see attached Drummer photo) Enjoy!

Boeuf a la Bourguignonne

8 ounces slab bacon (regular does not work) preferably peppered, cut into small dice
3 pounds beef round, cut into cubes
1 1/2 cups chopped red onion
1 tsp. minced garlic
Salt
Pepper
3 tbs. flour
2 cups full bodied red wine
2 cups beef broth
3 tbs. tomato puree
3 tablespoons fresh parsley
1 tbs fresh (or 1 tsp. dried) thyme
1 bay leaf
1 pound pearl onions
3 tbs. unsalted butter
8 oz. fresh mushrooms, wild varieties
3 tbs. flat leaf parsley
Whole fresh chives for garnish

In Dutch Oven - cook bacon till crisp. Remove to paper towels and drain. Keep grease, but remove to a bowl. In the pot add one tbs. of the bacon grease. Add beef cubes (but don't crowd) and cook over medium heat, browning on all sides. Transfer beef to a plate and continue like this with the rest of the beef, using the bacon fat to cook it as necessary.

Preheat oven to 350

In the same pot, add 1 tbs of drippings. Add onion and cook 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute.

Toss beef with flour and salt and pepper. Put back in pot and cook for 3 minutes or more, till flour is browned.

Pour in wine, stock, tomato puree and herbs. Bring to boil. Cover and transfer to oven. Cook 2 hours.

Cut small X in root of each pearl onion (PITA!) Drop the onions into a pot of boiling water. Return to a boil and cook 5 minutes. Drain onions. Rinse under cold water. Drain again. When cool, peel and put in a bowl.

In another dutch oven or heavy pan, melt butter. Add mushrooms, cook 2 minutes. Reduce heat and cook till tender for 8 minutes.

You should now have a bowl of bacon, a bowl of onions and a bowl of mushrooms

When stew is done, add all three bowls. Heat through. Sprinkle each portion with flat leaf parsley and chives, if desired.

Goofy Animals and Rhubarb

2010-04-22T14:19:00.000-07:00

Why are animals so goofy? They just are, that's why. I have come across a few goofy animal shots that I'll share with you today. Here's my pal's two cats in Chicago, being badasses. Well, not really. But still, these pictures crack me up. Here's a few dogs in cars. What the heck...here's Drummer on the roof, reconnoitering. No surprise there.

I'm off next weekend to attend a pal's wedding in San Francisco. I'll be staying with my friend Janet. Janet and I used to live in Chicago and now we live out here. She has a killer recipe for rhubarb crisp, which I'll share with you. I love how simple this recipe is. Hardly any ingredients at all. Rhubarb is a hard sell for my meat and potatoes-lovin boyfriend, but a girl can dream. Here it is:

Rhubarb Crisp (Janet's)

2 cups rhubarb
1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour
3 tbs. brown sugar
2 tbs. butter
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Put first two ingredients in a baking dish. Mix the remaining ingredients up with a pastry cutter. Pour over the top and bake at 350 for 1/2 hour.

Serve with ice cream!

New Year's Eve Catchup

2010-04-20T10:12:00.001-07:00

Yes, I had them put both the Sears Tower and the Hollywood Sign on my cake. Why not? I'm bi-city-ish. Well, not really, but I like to think I am. Bittersweet Bakery in Chicago did it. They rocked the party. My pal in Chicago has a killer place. The family room, which you see here, used to be the corner bar. They revamped it and took over the rest of the building as well. It's the perfect party palace and they could not have been nicer about it. Good friends, huh? Well, they are the best. My old singing partner brought me roses. Dean arranged the napkins like a champ! And the food, too. He could style for magazines, I'm telling you. I'll have a few more tomorrow, and then I think I'm caught up, miraculously.

From this to this...

2010-04-19T10:33:00.001-07:00

I know I've posted that wintry photo before. I just posted it again to illustrate how it was taken on a very early morning in Chicago. That SAME afternoon, after we landed in Los Angeles, Dean and I took a hike and I took the second picture. How can the same country have such disparate weather on the same day? We literally went from winter to summer in one day.

But...sometimes, the opposite happens. I had a sleepless night. My friend Beverly (from Chicago, now living in Wisconsin) has gone from summer to winter. Well...I wouldn't exactly call it summer. I'd say, chilly Spring to Deep Freeze. She's been battling cancer for a few years now. They just told her the other day: maybe, six weeks tops. Maybe.

She's taking her leave. Facebooking a lot of us, keeping her blog up to date. Incredible strength. Unimaginable difficulty. All I have to say is, (third picture) celebrate life and hold your loved ones close.

Hallways

2010-04-14T15:34:00.000-07:00

Where are you headed to? I took this pic backstage at a recent gig in Northern Cali. Love the blue lights and how the light from the outside reflected on the floor is also blue. Hm, I guess I really love it because it's wallpaper on my home AND work 'puter and my iPhone too.

Speaking of tech stuff, I had a chance to play with an iPad over the weekend. V. cool! I'll wait for the second or third generation, though. That's where I'm headed. Straight to technoland! Seriously, the iPad would be best in the kitchen - great for storing recipes. Just mount on the wall, look up your recipe and go. Now, I have to pull out this big-ass binder and find my recipe and then it gets all sticky and gummy. Eh, the future is tech. One step at a time.

Rainbow

2010-04-09T12:58:00.000-07:00

Dean and I went to Julian, CA a few years back, because I had a show there. It's very rustic and pretty and known for its apples (and apple pie). It's near San Diego (in fact, a friend was telling me the other night he was hiking in Julian when the 7.2 earthquake hit in Calexico - he said, it was WEIRD to be outside during an earthquake). Anyway, on our way back, we took a back road. This is something Dean loves to do. And a rainbow followed us for part of the trip. This pic was taken with my old cell phone but it was so trippy and CLOSE that I had to share with you. Next week, I'll do more on my party on 12-31. Have a good weekend!

My tiny kitchen

2010-04-08T12:41:00.000-07:00

I have the smallest kitchen in America, I'm convinced. It really is smaller than an airplane galley - at least the 767s and 777s. My bathroom is only slightly bigger than an airplane's as well. I do miss having a tub, that's for sure. But I digress. Here are old photos. The tile-less ones are when I first moved in about 10years ago. The tiled ones are about 4 years old. Dean has since then stepped in and rearranged my kitchen so that it's functional. Thanks to him, my stylin' boyfriend, I have a lot more counter space now that appliances are all tucked under and above and behind, etc. He also found for me a killer Kitchen-Aid stand mixer and a ton of Le Creuset pots and pans (for D-I-R-T cheap, like 5 or 10 bucks cheap) that I have stacked on top of the shelves. My crazy pal painted it orange with all sorts of swirls and here we are. It's...busy in there, to say the least. Here are some photos!

I've found my cake and frosting recipe

2010-04-07T14:11:00.000-07:00

These will now be my go-to cake and frosting recipes. Yellow cake courtesy of Lottie + Doof. Frosting courtesy of Smitten Kitchen. Make them both if you can. So easy and so much better than boxed. Speaking of cake, here's a teaser from New Year's Eve. As you can tell from my blog title, I'm a 1-1 baby and every 12-31, I have a party for myself. On big birthdays, I return to Chicago. So this past New Year's Eve, I had a big birthday and got my cake from that fabulous Chicago institution, Bittersweet. I was mostly happy with this cake, although I made one or two choices that I might have done differently (not their fault at all). Anyway, more New Year's Eve pix to come. Here are the two recipes you have to make - it's Spring as in Spring Form Pan after all! Cake for everybody!

Busy-Day Cake (adapted from a recipe by Edna Lewis) via Lottie + Doof

Kath here - does everyone have a spring form pan? I'm sure two regular 9 inch cake pans would work. But I've never tried it, cause I do have a spring form pan.

8 tablespoons butter (1 stick), at room temperature
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 cup buttermilk, at room temperature (make your own. Put 1 tbs. WHITE vinegar in one cup of milk and let sit till curdled, 10 minutes. You'll only use half, but no biggie)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (I'm sure jar would be fine, but I'm obsessed with fresh nutmeg, so I have it on hand - it lasts forever)

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Butter and flour a 9-inch spring form pan, set aside.

Beat the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating to incorporate after each addition. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add the flour in 3 parts, alternating with the buttermilk, starting and ending with flour. Make sure each addition is incorporated before adding next. Add the salt, vanilla, baking powder, and nutmeg and mix until combined.

Spread the batter in the prepared pan, smoothing the top. Bake until top is golden and tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Instant Fudge Frosting
Adapted, barely, from a Sky High recipe via Smitten Kitchen

Deb recommends using a food processor for this! Mine's too small. A mixer worked just fine.

Makes about 5 cups

6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled (the key here is COOLED)
4 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar (no need to sift)
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 tablespoons half-and-half or whole milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Place all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse to incorporate, then process until the frosting is smooth.

Awww, Chicago, you'll always have my heart.

2010-04-06T15:49:00.000-07:00

Take a look at these snaps from Xmas. Too much! I love Chicago in the winter even better than I do in the summer. Honestly, Los Angeles summers are pretty great. Z-E-R-O humidity my friends. Anyway, these pix were taken at Xmas. Love the new building that looks like water. We also went to the top of the Hancock. Hadn't been there in....forever!!

Potatoes, Chicago, Wisconsin, oh my!

2010-04-05T09:43:00.000-07:00

Peeps, I have not been this excited about a recipe in a long time. I have a history of sucking the big one when it comes to potatoes. Why, I have no idea. Mashed potatoes elude me. Baked, ditto. I'm all about the frozen section when it comes to this fab side dish. Not anymore. Thanks to Lottie + Doof, via Cook's Magazine, I made these yesterday (although, due to my tiny half-oven in my tiny airplane-sized kitchen, I had to make them three times due to size limitations on the cookie sheet. And they STILL turned out great!) for Easter dinner and they were the smash of the party. For that occasion, I tossed some leftover 4 cheese blend on the top, but in the future, plain and simple will do the trick.

Catching you up on a few photos now. Chicago and Kenosha in wintertime. The sign is from a restaurant in Chicago called Kuma's Corner, recommended by my OTHER reader, my bro. Great place, if you're ever in Chi-town. I love Kenosha winter skies. I'll have more Chicago photos tomorrow. Oh yeah, here's the recipe:

Garlicky Oven Fries (adapted from a Cook’s Illustrated Recipe) from Lottie + Doof:

6 garlic cloves, minced
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 russet potatoes (about 8oz each), each cut into 12 wedges
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Preheat oven to 475° F. Combine the garlic and oil in a large bowl and microwave until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer 5 tablespoons of the oil (leaving the garlic in the bowl) to a rimmed baking sheet, tilting the sheet to coat.

Add the potatoes to the bowl with the remaining oil mixture and toss to coat. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and microwave on high power until the potatoes are translucent around the edges, 3 to 6 minutes, shaking the bowl to redistribute the potatoes halfway through cooking.

Combine the cornstarch, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the hot potatoes and toss well to coat. Arrange the potatoes in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet and bake, turning once, until deep golden brown and crisp, 30 to 40 minutes. Serve.

Sloth is a Sin

2010-04-02T09:36:00.000-07:00

And I'm guilty as charged. Jeez, when I started this blog, I had no idea I would not *keep it up* yet here we are. I have a ton of pix all ready to go to catch you all (all one of you) up, but for today, please accept my two favorite Easter pix. They really capture the spirit of the Easter season, at least for me. By the way, in case anyone asks, it's called Good Friday not because Jesus died, but because Jesus died and saved humanity and when you save humanity it's...good. I have been playing Sister for waayyyy too long!

I've fallen behind again!

2010-02-18T10:37:00.000-08:00

But never fear: the nice thing about a blog is you can kind of noodle around. I'm still missing posts on Christmas and my New Year's party, but you are all pretty much caught up. Palm Springs was wonderful. We hiked for the first time out there! Dean, as always, kicked my ass, but I did okay. The show was a great success for our pals, and Ruby's was balm to the soul.

AND, I have two NEW recipes to share, neither of which I've made, but both of which are intriguing. Who would have thought to put beans in a cookie? Who would have thought to put lemon and olives in a cookie? Yet these two bloggers (101 Cookbooks and Lottie + Doof, respectively) have done just that. I'll make these soon (plus my long-awaited Hungarian Treats, which are next on the list, but that recipe is private, I believe). And I will catch up! Well, that's what I keep telling myself anyway.

Marathon Cookies (from 101 Cookbooks)

K here - I don't like dates - I'd use dried cranberries or blueberries.

101 Cookbooks says: My guess is that you could substitute spelt flour or all-purpose flour if you don't have whole wheat pastry flour on hand, or have difficulty finding it.

2 cups rolled oats (not instant oats)
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tablespoon aniseed, crushed in mortar and pestle (or spice grinder)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
zest of one lemon
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
one 15-ounce can white kidney, great northern, or navy beans, rinsed & drained
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup natural cane sugar (or brown sugar)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup chopped dates
1/3 cup sesame seeds

Preheat your oven to 350F degrees and place a rack in the top third. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Pulse the oats in a food processor (or blender) until they resemble a raggy flour. Transfer the oats to a large mixing bowl and whisk in the flour, aniseed, baking powder, baking soda, lemon zest and salt.

Pulse the beans and olive oil in the food processor until they are creamy. Add the sugar, egg, and vanilla extract and pulse until smooth. Scrap down the sides of the bowl once or twice along the way.

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir until the ingredients start to come together. Sprinkle the dates across the top of the batter and stir until everything just comes together.

Place the sesames seeds in a bowl. Make each cookie with a scant 1/4 cup scoop of dough. Roll each scoop of dough into a ball then coat it with sesame seeds. Set each ball on the prepared baking sheet and with the palm of your hand flatten the dough just a bit (see photo). Repeat with the remaining dough, leaving at least an inch or so between each cookie - they'll spread a bit, but not much. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the sesame seeds around the bottom start to get golden.

From Lottie + Doof, now:

Sweet Lemon and Black Olive Wafers (recipe from The New Portuguese Table by David Leite)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup mild oil-cured black olives, rinsed quickly if particularly salty, pitted, and coarsely chopped
1/4 cup granulated sugar, plus more for coating
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of kosher salt
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 large egg, beaten
Preheat oven to 375°F.

Stir together the flour, olives, sugar, baking powder, zest, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk together the oil and egg, pour the mixture into the dry ingredients, and mix with your hands until the dough no longer looks dry and holds together when squeezed, 1 to 2 minutes.

Fill a small bowl with sugar and set nearby. Pinch off 1 rounded tablespoon of dough, roll it into a ball, and coat it well with sugar. Place it in one corner of a sheet of parchment cut to fit your baking sheet, place another piece of parchment on top, and using a rolling pin, roll the ball into a 3 1/2 to 4-inch circle, a scant 1/16 inch thick. The edges will be ragged; that’s how they should be. Repeat with 5 more wafers on the same sheet. Lift off the top sheet and slip the parchment with cookies onto the baking sheet.

Bake until the wafers are edged with brown and pebbled on top, 10 to 12 minutes. Slide the parchment onto a wire cooling rack. Repeat with the remaining dough. Once cooled, the wafers will keep in an airtight container for several days.

***Maybe it goes without saying, but make sure you like the taste of the olives you use in these cookies. They should be mild, and not bitter at all and not too salty. I went to our Whole Foods and tried a bunch to find the right one.

K here - would you serve these as appetizer? A little sugar/salt thingy? Or dessert, with basil ice cream? Who knows? What on earth would these taste like? More to come on this devious little cookie that I'm now obsessed with!

Off to Palm Springs tomorrow

2010-02-09T15:05:00.000-08:00

I still have not forgotten about the end of last year posts. But I'm off for a few days to Palm Springs, where Dean and I go every year. It's the Palm Springs Modernism show and Dean helps our friends set up their massive booth each year. I live for these four days. It's just so great to get away and hang with friends. Best of all, we stay at Ruby Montana's Coral Sands Inn. You have to google this. You'll die when you see Ruby's. Here are some pix from last year's trip. See you when I get back.

Remembering Dad

2010-02-04T10:56:00.000-08:00

February is one of those months. There is finally relief and recovery from the holidays. There is Valentine's Day, which is bizarre in its own right. Dean and I like to do stuff for each other on OTHER days. But there is also the month of Dad. He died on Feb 4, 2000. He was just 4 days shy of his birthday, which is Feb 8. How old would he have been? I think he was born in 1928, so that would have made him 70. Yes, that's right. Wow - I used to know this stuff like the back of my hand. Now, not so much! Here's a pic of Dad in the 70's. He had just lost a lot of weight and was so happy with the results. This is probably one of the happiest photos I have of him. To me, it's precious.

And, while I'm at it, a recipe! These are the best brownies ever - I've made them several times. The ganache topping is so easy and to die for. Dad would have loved them. They are a Valentine's treat for sure. Once again, they come from Deb over at Smitten Kitchen. If you have not checked her blog out, now's the time: www.smittenkitchen.com.

After Dad's birthday, I'll resume posting about Xmas and New Year's 2009. All for today...

Peanut Butter Brownies - from Smitten Kitchen
Adapted from Butterwood Desserts, West Falls, New York via Gourmet, October 2007

Makes 32 brownies, more or less, depending on how you cut them

These “brownies” are more blondie than cakey, with an excellent peanut butter-chocolate contrasts and fantastic edges, for those of you into that sort of thing. Have a glass of milk handy.

For brownies
2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 large eggs plus 1 large yolk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (9 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon salt, see note**

For ganache
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (9 ounces)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

Make brownies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F with rack in middle. Butter a 13- by 9- by 2-inch baking pan, then line bottom of pan with parchment paper and butter parchment.

Beat together butter and sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until mixture is light and fluffy, then add peanut butter and beat until incorporated. Beat in whole eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla. Reduce mixer sped to low, then mix in flour until just combined.

Mix in chocolate chips (1 1/2 cups) then spread batter in baking pan, smoothing top. (It will be thick, almost like cookie batter.)

Bake until brownies are deep golden, puffed on top and a wooden pick inserted in center come out with some crumbs adhering, 40 to 45 minutes.

Cool completely in pan on a rack, about 1 1/2 hours.

Make ganache: Put chocolate chips (1 1/2 cups) in a heatproof bowl.

Bring cream to a boil in a small saucepan, then pour over chocolate chips and let mixture stand for one minute.

Gently whisk in butter until it is incorporated, chocolate is melted, and a smooth mixture forms.

Spread ganache on cooled brownies and let stand until set, about 15 minutes.

Brownies keep in one layer in an airtight container three days, and we hope much longer if hidden waaay in the back of the freezer.

New York City Part Last - and Mom

2010-02-01T10:17:00.001-08:00

Mom came to the show - did I mention that? My dear Aunt Wez (sitting behind her) took care of her. It was an amazing experience. Mom's seen me perform 1000000000 times, but she'd never seen the Christmas show and the last time she was in NYC was 1971? Maybe? Although, she's from Jersey City and worked in NYC for years. Even lived there for a time before marrying Dad. So it was a huge thrill for her to be 'back' in her city. It was an even bigger thrill having her there!

New York City Part Four

2010-01-29T10:20:00.000-08:00

Okay, okay. You’ve been clamoring long enough (not really, but I’m living in my own world here). Finally, here are some theatre pix. I was right on 46th Street! Right across the street from the theatre where Billy Elliott is playing. Just down the street from the Lunt-Fontanne. It was wonderful. It was a cabaret theatre in the basement of Sofia’s restaurant. The funniest part was, I had to walk from the kitchen, through the restaurant and down these stairs in costume to make my entrance from the back of the downstairs cabaret. As I am dressed as a full black-and-white nun, you would think that the patrons would be fairly surprised. However, it was New York, so really only a few of them glanced my way. The others? Meh, couldn’t have cared less. Here’s the outside and here’s the inside, before and after setup. I also included the superglam dressing room. Not. But it was clean and wonderful and NEW YORK. All those props belong to Tony & Tina’s wedding folks, who were sharing the space with us. I do have more, which will be posted next week or tomorrow. Oh, and in case you ever wondered about the glamorous life of theatre, check out what I had to walk past on my way to the stage. You know what? I loved it.

AND, I have four, count ‘em, FOUR recipes for you today.

Okay, here are my thoughts on these recipes. First, the bread. I’ve made it twice. I loved it both times, but my guests were not that crazy about it. It does taste kind of like…raw bread. But it’s not, and it’s easy, and it’s fun to try at least once. Plus, everyone online raves about it. You do need a few days, though. But the work is minimal.

No-Knead Bread

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen via Jim Lahey at the Sullivan Street Bakery via Mark Bittman at New York Times

Yields one 1 1/2 pound loaf

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast (you must use rapid rise yeast for this, I find)
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed (I just used flour).

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. (It will still stick to the towel, just sayin’). When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size (eh, not really) and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450°F. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic – I used a medium sized Le Creuset Dutch oven.) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

I love this next recipe. This one tastes like a cream cheese on rye sandwich, with a little sugar. I love recipes like this – not too sweet. These would be fantastic at a brunch topped with salt instead of sugar. What I did was, I used a mixture of sugar and salt on the top and then sprinkled on powdered sugar. If you just used sugar, they would be sweeter, which is just fine as well.

Swedish Rye Cookie Recipe

adapted from 101 Cookbooks

I use whole wheat pastry flour here, but you can substitute unbleached all-purpose flour if you like. I got both flours in the health food store so I didn’t have to pay out the wazoo. I also just used regular salt and sugar for both inside and outside the cookie. Worked out just fine. Do not buy organic powdered sugar. That’s just crazy.

1 cup rye flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/2 cup cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup fine grain natural cane sugar, sifted
large grain sugar (for sprinkling)
organic powdered sugar (for snow)

Line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium-sized bowl combine the flours and salt. Set aside. In an electric mixer or by hand) beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy, add the butter and do the same, mixing until the two are well combined. Beat in the sugar and mix until well incorporated. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir only long enough to combine the two. The dough should no longer be dusty looking. Turn the dough out onto the counter, knead once or twice to bring it together, shape into a ball, flatten, wrap in plastic and chill it in a refrigerator.

Heat your oven to 350F degrees, and arrange the racks in the top and bottom thirds. When you are ready to roll out your cookies do so on a lightly floured work surface. Roll the dough out to 1/4-inch thickness, and cut into shapes with the cookie cutter of your choice. Place on the prepared baking sheets an inch apart, and sprinkle each cookie with a bit of large-grain sugar. Bake for six or seven minutes, just until cookies are fragrant, and getting a bit golden at the edges - avoid over-baking or they will come out on the dry side. Allow to cool, and dust cookies with a bit of powdered sugar.

Lottie + Doof, Chicago guy – wonderful blogger. I love shortbread, and this recipe did not disappoint. But it made a TON of cookies. Still, very very tasty. Not as heavy as you might think.

Brown Sugar Walnut Shortbread (Avery Wittkamp)

From Lottie + Doof

I think this works best in two quarter sheet pans because it allows for more even cooking in home ovens. It also will work in one half sheet pan, just make sure you monitor it carefully so it doesn’t burn on the edges or bottom.

4 sticks (1 pound) plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
9 ounces light brown sugar (this is 1 and 1/8 cup)
5 ounces white sugar (this is ¾ cup)
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
1 pound 3 ounces organic King Arthur bread flour (I used regular flour and this is 4 cups)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts

Prepare a half sheet tray, or two quarter sheet trays, by buttering and lining with parchment paper. Allow a two-inch overhang on the long sides of the pan to help release the shortbread later after they have been baked.
Cream butter and sugars in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla until combined, then mix in dry ingredients. Combine completely.

Divide dough evenly into prepared sheet trays, spreading smooth and level. Sprinkle with granulated sugar and bake at 325° until golden brown, about 35 to 45 minutes.
Let cool completely before using a sharp knife to cut into squares. These keep well at room temperature for at least a week!

Okay, so these are Dutch, not really Nordic, but I loved them anyway. I don’t like almond extract in stuff, so I used vanilla and they turned out just fine. Kind of similar in taste to the walnut shortbread, but this has the extra kick of cinnamon.

Jan Hagels

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar

1 egg, separated
1 tsp. almond extract (I used vanilla)

2 cups flour

½ chopped almonds
1 tablespoon sugar
¼ tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. Beat butter and sugar together. Add egg yolk and extract. Add flour, and stir till combined.

Put the dough into a large cookies sheet with sides (or two small ones). You might want to put down parchment paper before hand. Using your fingers, spread dough out till it’s even.

Whisk egg white till frothy. Brush over dough. Combine cinnamon and sugar. Sprinkle on top.

Bake for 25 minutes. Let cool, then cut. Traditionally, they are cut into diamond shapes, but squares work fine. As with all these cookies, try to at least cut them into something before you devour the entire pan.

New York City Part Three

2010-01-28T07:25:00.000-08:00

Okay, I lied. I found some more Central Park pix on my home computer. But I will post one recipe today, the least favorite one. Look at this park. It's just so amazing. Anyway, even though I am drooling over a newly acquired Hungarian cookies recipe (more on this later) way back in December I decided to do a search for Nordic Christmas cookies. I think the Danish, Swedish and Finnish obviously really know how to do Christmas up. I've always loved that kind of cookie, not too sweet, kind of hard. I really didn't know what to expect when I started searching, but four recipes came up and only one was a stinker. Here it is. But first, another park picture or 50.

Okay - so the problem with this recipe is, well a few problems. Too many ingredients should have been my first tip-off. Fortunately, I have a health food store just down the road which had all the spices in bulk so I paid pennies for them. And then a two (TWO!) week prep time. I only prepped for one week. But the bigger problem was the total unappetizing look of them from start to finish. You have to form three logs and refrigerate them for a week, two is better. It looks like....well, if I may be blunt, it looks like someone took three very large dumps and set them in the fridge. Then, after you slice and bake them, the baking time is very short, so they come out looking underdone but they do harden. That said, they still look pale and tan and...eh. Like aardvark tongues or something. Poop, tongues. These are not images that come to mind when making cookies, unless you're a sociopath.

And...honestly? They didn't taste all that great. I sprinkled powdered sugar on them to reduce the tongue-like appearance, but still. They were only okay, and a lot of work. And I did NOT get baking ammonia - that was used waaaaayyy back before baking soda and powder was invented. I substituted baking powder. But interestingly, baking ammonia used to be made from groundup reindeer antlers, so that's kind of a Christmas tie-in. Those Danes! Hey, maybe even Hamlet (Prince of Denmark) had one of these cookies in his imaginary life. But maybe not. Here's the recipe, I hope you have better luck than I did.

From RecipeZaar

Danish "Brun Kager" Brown Cookies

Traditional Danish Christmas cookie. They have a wonderful spicy flavor that stays with you long after you eat it - It's the taste of Christmas to me. Sometimes it is tricky to slice the cookies, especially if you did not wrap and seal them well, then they tend to crumble. Seal them well and leave them 2 weeks in the fridge and you shouldn't have any trouble. (K here - yeah right)

1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white corn syrup
1 teaspoon baking ammonia
1 teaspoon cardamom powdered
1 teaspoon clove
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ginger powdered
4 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup slivered blanched almonds

Melt the butter, sugar and corn syrup together.
Sift dry ingredients and add to melted mixture.
Form into 2 or 3 rolls, about 2" high, wrap in plastic so the rolls are completely sealed and chill in the refrigerator for at least a week, 2 weeks is better Slice thinly and place on a buttered cookie sheet (Just over a 1/4").
Bake in moderate oven 375f for 5-7 minutes.

New York City Part Two

2010-01-27T16:11:00.001-08:00

Remember I told you my pal lives around the corner from the Dakota? I took some snaps to show you Strawberry Fields, too. The Dakota is where John Lennon lived when he was shot. The (in)famous gates are where he actually went down. My friend told me it was called another building for a long time. It was the only apartment building on the Upper West Side. In the old days, people referred to it as The Dakota because for them, it was as far away as one of the Dakotas. Such a gorgeous building - such a gorgeous neighborhood!

More Central Park pix for you too. My pal is a runner and knows every inch of the park. I even got two snaps of the famous topiary outside Tavern On The Green, which is now defunct as of Dec 31. Tomorrow, some theatre shots. And a recipe or two. I've done all my holiday baking...in January.

I never have time to do it in December and every February I go to Palm Springs to help Dean with his work designing our friend's booth at the Palm Springs Modernism Show. And, every year, I bake cookies for all of them to eat during the long set-up. This year, I wanted to make new cookies, so I researched and found a bunch of new recipes. I'll post them on here - mostly hits, a few misses.

Anyway, all for now. Tomorrow will come soon enough!

Catching Up - New York City, December 2009

2010-01-26T13:23:00.000-08:00

I'm catching up. For the next week or so, my posts will be about my amazing New York City experience in late December of 2009. I got to do two shows of my long-running Christmas show off-Broadway. Technically, on Broadway, but because it was in a cabaret and not a theatre, off-Broadway it is.

So what? I had a blast. Took the red eye - okay, NOT a blast. It was a week of country-wide super high winds. I have never ever ever ever experienced roller coaster landing like I did coming into JFK. It was 5:30am and we were rolling around in the sky. Not a good feeling. Anyway, sometimes hating to fly causes me to do the weirdest things. Like take a photo out the window. Why? Who knows?

Anyway, New York! I stayed with an old college buddy who lives just off of Central Park West, around the corner from the Dakota. She has lived in this place 31 years. Amazing. The next picture is a building on her street.

We went to Babbo that night. Babbo is Mario Batali's signature restaurant in New York City. I've been wanting to go there for years. It was an amazing experience. Cute Xmas tree, huh? Look at the cool bathroom mirrors. The best thing I had there was Farroto, which was a farro appetizer cooked to bright pink perfection with beets and a ton of pecorino romano cheese. Next best thing were brussel sprouts cooked with pancetta. Honestly, if I could learn those two dishes, I'd be in heaven. I had a bolongese for the main course, which was excellent, but my friend's black pasta seafood dish was better.

Next day, we walked around Central Park. Met up with another pal at Cafe Sabarsky, which was recommended to me by more than one food blogger. What a great place. Wish I would have had time to go to the museum it's in. Seriously, google it and check out the site, and the menu. Yes, the apple streudel is just as good as everyone says it is.

So here are some Central Park pix as well. It was showtime that night, so I had to be careful. It was freeezing cold and my body is not used to it anymore. I did not want to get sick before my NYC debut. But I didn't!

Dad used to say, if you ever make it to Broadway, we'll rent a bus and come see you! I thought about him a lot on this trip. More on this, and more pictures tomorrow!

What has happened to my sad little blog?

2010-01-18T16:17:00.000-08:00

Have I really been that busy and exhausted? Yes. Am I going through pictures to organize them, so I can tell you all about my December, starting with my New York trip and ending with a fabo birthday party for myself on New Year's Eve? Yes. Do I have some great new recipes to share? Yes. Do I feel stupid blogging about this stuff when Haiti has just happened, and anything other than HELP HELP HELP HELP written on a blog seems superfluous? Yes. Bear with me, gentle reader (readers? maybe?). I'll get there. I'll be blogging long before supplies reach those who need them in Haiti. Please pray, send money, do whatever you do. I'll be back!

Chillax!

2009-12-22T09:02:00.000-08:00

Oh, it's been so long since I've posted and there's no time to catch you up properly, but I will I promise. New York was fantastic. The shows after New York here in SoCal were also wonderful. Just a quick post to say, yes, it's hectic, but it WILL all get done. Take some time to chillax. Look, even Mary and Joseph and few sheep are taking a break by some sound equipment at my last gig. If they can take a breather, so can you. Keep me afloat for my flight to Chicago on Xmas Eve. They're expecting bad weather. Well, at least Dean will be with me. If they allowed folding chairs on the wings, he would sit in one. That guy loves to fly. More to come, I promise!

Life is Bumpy. Get over it.

2009-12-09T12:05:00.000-08:00

This is what Dean just texted me, when I reported to him that Mom landed safely in Newark but said the flight was bumpy. This is why I love him so much. He will do anything to reduce my fear of flying, and this is the exact right approach: don't indulge the crazy! I hate flying. I hate when my loved ones fly. Tomorrow I'm taking a redeye, which is a bummer, cause number one, it's supposed to be windy as hell the whole time, and number two, even under the best conditions, I can't sleep. Gotta be on my game, in case the pilot needs me. Airport '75 anyone?

But people, I'm off to NYC tomorrow night to do two shows of the Christmas show I'm in. My first NYC credits! So I gotta fly. There'll be a good tail wind, but good God, that's gonna be bumpy as we get closer to landing.

That said, I downloaded Virgin Atlantic's Flying Without Fear app on my iPhone. Hopefully, I can stay online the whole time on my iPhone. WiFi on airplanes - who knew? The lovely thing about iPhones is, you can turn it to Flight Mode, but you can keep your WiFi on, so no one can call you or text you but you can surf the 'net to your heart's content. Love that little machine.

Anyway, Dad always said, if you make it to NYC, we'll hire a bus and come see you. But Mom coming on her flight is the next best thing. Dad would have gone too, if he were still with us.

So, THANK you, Kenosha bus driver and 294 tollway and O'Hare and American Airlines and Newark airport for cooperating and getting Mom there. My aunt, Mom's sister, has tied her do-rag on for the duration of this visit - she will be responsible for All Things Mom for the duration of her trip. They come to the city to see me on Saturday night. I'll be nominating her for Stage 1 of Canonization directly afterwards.

You'll see plennya NYC pix, believe me.

But first I gotta make it there.....

The Drummer Chronicles, Part 2

2009-12-08T15:25:00.000-08:00

Is there anything more precious than a sleeping baby? For me, there is: an animal who actually shows some initiative and gets off its lazy butt and finds itself a damn job. Animals are expensive! Even visiting ones. I love how Drummer's eyes kinda go away when he sleeps. It's like: eyeless wonder cat. When I was in the shower, I heard a curious sound. When I came out, Drummer was looking for a job online. I'm telling you that cat has it all. I don't think THUG WANTED is anywhere on craigslist, but hey you can't blame homeboy for tryin'.

Stage.

2009-12-07T14:23:00.000-08:00

I've written this before: is there anything better than an empty stage, waiting to be performed on? I don't think so. Here are a few shots from this past weekend's show. It's hard to tell, but they had this place Christmassed out of its mind, and it looked fantastic all lit up when the set was in place. But my favorite time is always the time before: just me, my temple, my altar, my private moment. I feel perfectly at peace, at one with something BIGGER when I'm standing on an empty stage in a theatre that I will soon be performing in. It's a holy place, that.

Crisis Averted!

2009-12-05T09:30:00.000-08:00

If you have not seen the Pioneer Woman's blog, now's the time. http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/.

Just so much fun. I've started trying out her recipes. Occasionally, she posts recipes from a friend of hers, Pastor Ryan. Today, I decided to make Pastor Ryan's Monkey Bread. People, please take note: do not make this in a leaky Bundt pan. I had a smoky kitchen in about 45 seconds. I'm now going to have to clean my oven like nobody's business because of this.

That said, I transferred everything to a large glass baking dish, ran over to my landlord's kitchen and it still turned out delicious. AntiquesMan, aka Dean, has asked me not to call him the Boyf anymore, so Dean it is. I'm hoping Dean likes this a lot. Even I tried a little and I don't really like cinnamony sweet stuff this early in the morning. It's really delicious, like a hot puffy snickerdoodle.

This is the time of year we eat stuff we don't normally eat, so even though I wish MY house smelled like a Cinnabon stand instead of my landlord's, just letting it cool in my kitchen is enough to stink up the joint. But in a good way!

Christmas tree closeup is from work. It's the only tree I put up, believe me. Like my kitchen tile? My pal did it. I gotta get Christmassy here, cause I have another show tonight, which, like this recipe, is a gift.

Pastor Ryan's Monkey Bread (with thanks to Ree!)

Preheat the oven to 350

Use either a big glass thing like mine, or a Bundt pan that does NOT have a removable bottom

Don't bother greasing either one

3 tubes of Pillsbury (I used Albertson's brand - Jewel for you Midwestern folks) Buttermilk bisquits, NOT the flaky kind

1 cup sugar

3 tsp. cinnamon

2 sticks of butter, melted

1/2 cup brown sugar

Put sugar and cinnamon in a giant ziplock. Mix well. Pop open the cans of bisquits and cut each one into four. Put these doughballs in the bag and coat. Yes I said doughballs, be mature.

Melt the butter and the brown sugar until all one color

Put the doughballs in your baking dish/pan. Stop that giggling. Pour butter over.

Bake for 40 minutes.

Work out like a fiend afterwards.

The Drummer Chronicles, Part One

2009-12-04T09:54:00.000-08:00

I know I've posted about this cat ad nauseum on Facebook, but not everyone I know is on Facebook, so here's some more Drummer for you. For those of you who don't know, Drummer is my neighbor's cat. He really is more like a dog - he really is more like the late great Benny, my beloved black and white Jack Russell Terrier. More on him in a separate post. Anyway, it's time you met Drummer. He comes over a lot in the wintertime. He usually has a morning snooze and then I put him out. Today, he came by and looked at me balefully. I was sitting in his chair. As soon as I got up, he popped up and had a little snooze. Then he had an asthma attack. Pretty standard morning for him. Then, he cleaned himself. Then he went outside to kick some ass. He's pretty much a thug in our 'hood. He likes to hang out in the street, like a punk-ass. The FedEx and the UPS guys all love him. They recognize a kindred spirit, a brother. Then, he spends the day reconnoitering and muscling his way around the various yards. He kicks ass and takes names. Possums, squirrels, rabbits, birds, other cats. Fuhgettaboutit. It's Drummer's world, and we all just visit it. Love that cat.

Busted.

2009-12-02T16:20:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you see the weirdest things in LA. Look at this guy's car scenter thingy. I mean, who hangs that in their car? Only in LA. The funny thing is, as I was taking this picture in the Trader Joe's parking lot, the car owner totally busted me. He literally appeared from out of nowhere "Oh, so you like my air freshener, huh?" "It's cool!" I said, but what I really wanted to say was: freak. Then I ran into the store. It still makes a great picture. Not that I want this blog to be that kind of a website. I mean, now what, cocktail weenies and Pillsbury dough wrap recipes? No. Besides, you already know how to make those. Be sure and have plenty of hot mustard and please use kosher beef weenies. Those are the best.

The Venice Canals

2009-12-01T14:14:00.001-08:00

I've been to Venice, Italy and Venice, California. Don't get me wrong, every single part of Italy is fantastic. But for California, one of the prettiest places in Los Angeles is the Venice Canals. There used to be tons of them, but now there are only six. I am very fortunate to live near them. The boyf and I walk them at least once every two months. You can never really see the same thing twice. There are also canals in Naples, CA, but they are big and overbearing and just too much. These pictures, taken with both an old and a new cell phone, don't really do the Venice ones justice. The topiary, the architecture, it's just incredible there. I'll go there with my regular camera and take some real pictures for you. Look, one guy even built himself a lap pool! The boyf says that furniture is sorta famous. At Christmas (see? there's that word again) they wrap the cross bridges and people put lights on the palm trees and all the lights on the houses and the little boats reflect in the brackish water. Everyone seems to have a canoe or a kayak, but you hardly see anyone rowing. There's even a little Canal Christmas Parade, which we miss every year. People like Anjelica Huston have houses on the canals. Someday, it would be nice to have one there too. I'm sure she's an excellent neighbor.

Sheesh, Christmas already?

2009-11-30T13:48:00.000-08:00

Good God, can it be here? Well of course it can. Eh, I'm not the biggest Christmas person in the world, which is an understatement if you know me. One thing I really like about Los Angeles is that unlike Chicago, Christmas isn't in your face everywhere. It's just not celebrated here the way it is in the Midwest. It looks funny, too, when people decorate for Christmas. It's like those really strange neighbors you had as a kid who were so lazy that it would be summertime and they would still have their Christmas lights up. It just does not FEEL like Christmas, unless you seek it out. So for the Christmas blasé person like me, it's kinda perfect. I'll be posting some more Christmas stuff in LA this month.

Check out my fall leaves picture. I took it on Saturday. Some streets have such a Chicago feel to them. Of course, then you go to the beach and see the sunset and realize you AIN'T in Chicago anymore. We had a little storm brewing over by the mountains, which produced some killer-looking clouds.

The funny thing is, I perform a Christmas version of my show. So I really have to ramp up the Christmas spirit, at least for my audience. The other night, I had my first one. Look at that set - isn't it great? As soon as I heard the preshow music, I really felt happy. I think it was due to performing, not necessarily Christmas.

Have I said Christmas enough in this post? I was mourning the loss of the salted caramel hot chocolate at Starbucks this season, but then was happy to see that Trader Joe's has coughed up a dark chocolate salted caramel...well caramel. I have yet to try them. I'm still working through the Dreyer's Seasonal Peppermint Ice Cream. Hey, if it's the holidays, you gotta indulge a little. I guess I could post a high-calorie recipe to keep things moving along in the holiday spirit. I don't have a picture for this, but I'll give you my old chestnut (get it?) Sesame Peanut Noodles. I'm so lazy I don't even use tahini. I think you'll like this one a lot.

1 box linguine

1 jar of unsalted creamy peanut butter

1 small bottle of sesame oil

Soy sauce (I use Bragg's Amino Acid) to taste

Hot chili flakes, to taste

1 whole cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped

1 bunch cilantro, bottom stems removed, chopped

Optional: toasted sesame seeds, about 3 tbs

Mix peanut butter and sesame oil till smooth. If there is oil on top of the peanut butter, make sure that goes in as well. Add soy sauce to taste. I like things salty, so I add a lot. Ditto the hot red pepper flakes. Toss in the cucumber, cilantro and sesame seeds if you are using them. Set aside.

Cook the linguine according to the package directions. Drain. Here's the most important part: rinse with cold water until the noodles are cold, or else they will not mix well with the peanut butter.

Mix noodles into peanut butter mixture. Chill and eat. Enjoy!

My God, that was a big bird.

2009-11-27T08:42:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm writing this down NOW so that I can look back a year from now to remember what I did. May I just say that it was the best. turkey. ever? It really turned out well, but it was very scary at the end, because after six hours, it was still not done, but then I cranked up the oven and another 30 minutes and a google search later it was done.

My best friend has an amazing kitchen with an amazing view. She set the table beautifully. It was a roasting hot, gorgeous day.

So here's what I did: went to Whole Foods and got a 24.5 turkey. Frozen solid. I know, I know. Also bought a small jar of brine mix and a big brine bag. Also bought some turkey paste from Williams-Sonoma. A full week before T-Day, I set that thing in the fridge to defrost. On Tuesday night, I brined. On Wednesday night, I de-brined and pasted and also added two sticks of butter to the outside. I filled the insides with lemons, limes, oranges, garlic bulbs (not even peeled, so that when I pulled them out, they were baked and gooey and perfect for spreading on the turkey) and onions. Put a giant bunch of rosemary in there too. Stuck some paste under the skin of the breast. Put onions and garlic in the bottom of the pan.

I put the turkey on a rack, and put it back in the fridge till the next day. I put it in at 10am at 400. After 30 minutes, lowered the heat to 325. I covered it in foil for the first two hours. I basted it way too much, according to my pal. I don't think so! It took 6.5 hours to cook. At the last 45 minute mark, I cranked the heat back up to 400. The temp was 165. I thought it was supposed to be 185, but something told me it was done, so google it was. Good thing I did. 165 was just fine. But it took forever to get there! As my pal's Mom said, "turkeys have a mind of their own." No kidding.

The first pic you see is about halfway through. Second pic is when it's done.

For a huge turkey, it was so moist and tender I could not believe it! Everyone raved. I was very pleased. Hope yours turned out just as well, if not better!

Thanksgivitovah!

2009-11-19T14:02:00.000-08:00

People, I'm cooking this year and get this: the turkey is 24 pounds. Almost 25. I've already started defrosting. I have my brine mix ready and my Turkey Paste from Williams-Sonoma. I've not ever used either, but my NYC pals swear by it. Gravy is being outsourced to the local gourmet market. Mashed sweet potatoes are being done by the local BBQ joint. All other sides are being done by pals. But I have the STAR of the show, the turkey! What was I thinking? For a few years now, I've done the pre-cooked ones from the market. They are...eh. This year, since my pal Jan moved into a killer new house with a gigantic kitchen, I'm once again biting the bullet and cooking. the. turkey. YIKES! I promise to take pictures. I would like to tell you that the picture accompanying this post was done by a child, but sadly, no, I just did it 5 minutes ago in PAINT. Let's hope my turkey skills are better. More to come on this, for sure.

Home is where the meatballs are

2009-11-12T16:01:00.001-08:00

These days, heading home means big skies. Fall is in the air, even in Los Angeles. We get crazy light, great clouds. For some reason, this reminds me of home: not necessarily Chicago or even Kenosha, where Mom lives now (talk about big skies!). I mean home in the sense of when I was a kid. When the light changed and the air got crisp, Mom would break out the hearty fare and what follows is her recipe for meatballs, which is so crazy-easy it almost begs the question: why NOT eat meatballs more often? After all, it’s comfort food – Welcome Home.

Mom’s meatballs

1 pk ground beef – I use 90% lean here, probably about 1 to 1.5 pounds
4 cloves crushed garlic
1 heaping tbs. of dried parsley
1 egg
½ cup breadcrumbs (store-bought with seasoning works just fine)
¼ cup parm cheese

(I have also added dried onions to this with success, but that onion-y crunch is not for everyone)

Mix together. Make 11 meatballs. Place in a large pot with TWO jars of store-bought marinara if you are in a rush. I love Barilla’s plain old marinara. Bertolli is a close second. Simmer on top of the stove on a low flame for 40 minutes. Done! Lots of meatball recipes call for mixing it up – pork, veal, beef. I’m a fan of doing this, but it takes time, which is hard to find these days. Like fall in LA – you really have to look for it. I’d also make the sauce from scratch if I could but alas…also, a lot of folks like to cook the meatballs before putting them in the sauce. If you use a lean enough cut of beef, the sauce will cook them for you and also get a great flavor to boot. Just keep the flame low and Bob’s Your Uncle, as they say in the UK.

On the road again.

2009-11-09T10:12:00.000-08:00

I went to Northern California over the weekend to do a show. I occasionally travel for this, my show, my lifeline for nearly 8 (!) years. I am one of the nuns in "Late Nite Catechism." You've probably seen it, even if you've not seen me. What is it about travel that's so great? It's my Dad: he loved nothing more than being behind the wheel of a car. Mom, eh, not so much.

Everyone complains about the San Joaquin valley, about how boring it is, but honestly, I love it. It reminds me of home. I think those are almond trees in the first picture. Who knew?? Not me. I don't think I ever thought about how almonds grow. We made it up there in record time and the same held true the next day too. There seemed to be no traffic at all.

The theatre was right on the water. Lovely! Is there anything more fantastic than a stage floor? I was proud of that last picture. I'm happiest when I'm standing right there.

Quick Friday Recipe and Post

2009-11-06T10:59:00.001-08:00

It's a crazy busy Friday, so I'll have to post pictures later. I tossed together a fantastic recipe for my latest obsession, beans, both black and white. Here it is:

1 small can white beans, drained.
1 small can black beans, drained.
1/2 small can chipotle peppers, not drained (toss the sauce in there as well)
2 raw cloves garlic
A few healthy glugs of olive oil
A few leaves (maybe two, no stems) of kale

Food process. Done. Enjoy your weekend!

A Credit Card Tale (but not of woe, ultimately)

2009-11-05T16:26:00.000-08:00

No recipe with this post - unless you want to call this a recipe for reading your credit card statements.

I was recently stuck downtown in a parking garage and they only took cash. Since I never carry cash, the parking lot guy directed me to the only ATM machine around. I pulled out my credit card and got the 20 bucks and was on my way. Then I got my bill.

Really, BofA? TEN dollars for a twenty dollar withdrawall?

Plus, three bucks that Wells Fargo charged me for using their ATM (I bank elsewhere)? You. Gotta. Be. Kidding. Me. So, there I was, navigating my way through BofA's voicemail to dispute this (I lost btw) when I suddenly heard my 'available credit' right after my balance. The available credit was HALF of what it used to be. I went online and sure enough - way back in March, they dropped my available credit line to half of what it was. I guess you can pretty much tell I only look at what I owe when I get my bill.

So there it was. My credit card lowered my limit. It's happening all over, in the wake of the financial crisis. I thought I was immune, after all, I'm always throwing money at that thing. I really try to keep the balance as low as I can. Some months are more successful than others. But usually I do okay. I am not a big fan of kickbacks either, like rebates or tickets. I just have a basic card. I try not to fall prey to the tricks they pull. So, why did they lower my limit?

Google searching coughed up the usual propaganda: your limit's been lowered because you keep too high a balance. Your limit's been lowered because they are worried that you are risky. Your limit's been lowered because you were late. No. The reality is, my limit's been lowered because I'm a credit card company's worst nightmare - I'm the one who uses it a lot and pays off most of it, if possible. They are not making a dime on me.

Back in the old days, I used to carry huge balances. No surprise that I also had a huge credit line. But now that I'm trying to be more responsible with it, they are lowering my available credit. I called them up and asked for a 'raise.' Suddenly, I was being interviewed about my job (s), how much I made at each one, what I did, etc. They finally gave me 4 thousand of it back, but that was it. My knee jerk reaction of course was, how dare they? They TOOK something from me. As I explained to the girl, I like having the knowledge that IF god-forbid-something-happens, I HAVE that credit limit there as a backup. Her response was oh well, it sucks to be you (in corporate-speak of course).

But then the Boyf pointed out to me: they did you a favor. You should be writing them a thank-you note. And I realize - he's right. The problem is not that they think I'm irresponsible. It's that they know I'm responsible and therefore, they'll make no money on me at all.

He also said this: "if you ever had to charge your original credit limit on your card, you'd be screwed." Wise man, that Boyf of mine. I've had the same card for 20 years. It used to be a triple A card, tilll BofA swooped in. I don't want to get rid of it, but all of this makes me wonder - what will they do next? I guess we'll have to wait and see. The moral of the story is: read your fine print.

India

2009-11-04T11:25:00.001-08:00

This will not be my first blog post about India. I went a few years back, thanks to some generous friends. It was mind-boggling. I went to Calcutta and Puri - both completely different and both completely unforgettable. I have some pix to share - oh boy, do I have pix. But enough. I also have a great recipe for marinade for chicken that I use over and over again. The Boyf claims it's the best chicken marinade ever.

Indian Chicken Marinade (adapted from Madhur Jaffrey)

1 tbs. paprika

1 tbs. fine black pepper (I omit this for the boyf, who is NOT a hothead)

1 tbs. store-bought garam masala

Dash cayenne

1 1/4 tsp. salt

2 tsp. oregano

2 tsp. cumin

3 tbs. veg. oil

2 tbs. plain yogurt (I use Fage Greek 0%)

2 tbs. fresh lemon juice

1 tbs. honey

3 cloves crushed garlic

That's it. Other things I have added, but which are not necessary are (you can add these by 1/8 tsp. increments if you desire): white pepper, smoked paprika, dried basil, liquid smoke, kolonji seeds, dried onions, garlic salt, crushed red pepper flakes and turmeric.

This works very nicely on 4 large chicken breasts. And, again, you can get small quantities of spices in your local health food store if you don't have any spices. Marinade for a day or for an hour, it does not really matter. I use my BBQ grill for this chicken, but I'm sure it would work in a saucepan as well.

My first post, and of course it's a recipe. Well, two.

2009-11-03T12:46:00.000-08:00

Habanero

The habanero pepper. Notice the lack of tilde. For years, I mispronounced it. I love Ha-ban-YERO, I would sing, until my dear friend Ralph, the Master Salsa Maker corrected me. Was it Ralph who introduced me to it? Or my friend Nakita from Trinidad? I can’t remember. No matter. We’ve not been apart since I came upon it nearly 20 years ago. Check out the Habanero/Scotch Bonnet club I started on Facebook. We’re a little fanatical.

You’re getting two recipes with this blog post. The first one, well, can I brag? I won a Whole Foods cooking contest with this recipe. This was years ago in Chicago. As far as I know, they’ve never used it. But I did get an amazing food processor which I use to this very day. I remember my roommate at the time telling me “you’ll never win.” But I did.

Spicy Salsa

1 can (28 oz.) whole peeled tomatoes (hey who has time to use fresh? Not me).
1 bunch cilantro, washed, bottoms of stems removed (but don’t bother plucking off each leaf – see above)
1 lime
6 large cloves garlic
1 habanero pepper (take out the seeds if you want it milder – but you really don’t)
1 bunch green onions (only trim off tips, I use both green and white part)
Salt to taste (I like a lot)

Put everything but the lime and the salt into a food processor and blend for a nice long time. You really don’t want any chunks. Throw this into a pot. Add the juice of one lime and salt to taste (I probably use about ½ tbs.). Cook for ½ hour. Cool. Serve.

This next recipe is one I’ve spent the summer developing. Sorry for the use of hard-to-find ingredients. It’s a pet-peeve of mine, but these cookies are so good, it’s worth it. You can find most everything at Surfas if you live in LA, or the Spice House if you live in Chicago, or Kalustyan’s if you live in NYC. If you don’t live in those cities, the Spice House has an awesome website for online ordering. Tenuta’s in Kenosha, Wisconsin has both the elusive habanero powder AND the instant espresso powder (which is stubbornly hard to find) and they would pack it up nicely for you and ship it your way. OR, you could go to the nearest Mexican grocery store and probably get close to everything you need. Another alternative to small amounts of spices is to check out your local health food store. You can usually buy a small amount in bulk spices there.

So, back to the cookies. Did I mention they were cookies? I love chocolate and spice. Mole, for me, is manna. I started thinking; why not try cookies with mole ingredients? After a lot of taste-testing (and power walking to get rid of said taste testing), I hit upon what I think is the perfect recipe. The two chocolates play off each other nicely, the nuts add a perfect crunch and balance to the spice, and sure, the spice ingredients are small, but you are looking for grace notes here, not giant thumping fortissimo chords. If you’re a chocolate purist, you can go get fancy chocolate. Me, I’m a little lazy. But I really hope you like (no LOVE) these cookies.

“Mole” Cookies

1 large bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 small bag of milk chocolate chips
2 ¼ cups flour
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
2 sticks butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ancho chili powder
1/8 tsp. cayenne
1/8 tsp. habanero powder
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. instant espresso powder
1 small bag of chopped almonds OR walnuts

Follow the directions for making the cookies on the large bag. When it comes time to sift together flour and soda and salt, also throw in the chili powders and espresso. Add both bags of chocolate and the nuts and blend and bake according to the directions on the bag.